TRIKE & BIKE UPDATE - JULY '01
Those of you who have not read our main News letters, please link to these below for more information.
The So. California trike company mentioned in our main Spring Newsletter(LINK), has so far not been able to deliver as promised...though we expect things to materialize eventually. The hybrid, anhydrous amonia fuel cell-electric trikes they're testing in Thailand have funneled their efforts away from the purely electric versions we expected to sell by now. For customers requiring the hill climbing capabilities of these trikes, we now have a new high powered hub motor kit we are taking orders for. Please note the new hub motor kit specifications and prices (LINK).
The new hub kits are only available by special order, with a 50% deposit and an understanding it may take months to complete the minimum one cubic meter ocean freight order. We will not charge your card until the order is placed...roughly one month prior the estimated delivery date. Those of you who cannot wait for the ocean container order, please call us for details on direct air shipments from Asia...at $900 per kit, including shipping, customs broker fees, etc...
The CHARGER bikes continue to be our best e-cycle value for a number of reasons--including both functionality and cost for most people. Considering the already low discounted price, we're now including new batteries that are rated by the manufacturer at 600 instead of the original 300 deep discharge type. We've been told by our battery sources that a new "crystal", instead of "gel" electrolyte SLA battery will be soon available...packing another 2 Ahrs. in the same space! Preliminary tests indicate a 30% increase in range on some e-cycles using these batteries, and much progress has been made to further increase the amount of Ahrs. in other size batteries. New 7Ahr. gel size (using "crystal") are rummored to cram a whopping 12Ahrs...almost doubling the power output! This is great news for the trike kits using 48V systems based on this size battery. It also means the 12Ahr. gel size will pack more than 14Ahrs. in time. The "crystal" electrolyte is less suceptible to gasing than the "gel" type from higher heat associated with quick chargers, so this means looming progress on this front.
Other battery chemistries are also looking promising for CHARGER and ELECTO-TRIKE enthusiasts.
ELECTOPORTAL NEWSLETTER - Spring '01
ELECTOPORTAL NEWSLETTER - Summer '01